Who is ready to start the driving season???

I went for a drive Sunday and I fell back in love again with my car. It's not fast, and its not flashy. But around this time of year when I get those first couple really good drives out of her on some back roads I remember why I built it, and why I keep it.

So who is ready for the season to start!?

Anybody got big plans? I planned on being turbo by now... so much for that lol

I asked recently about how to make my events better, and I figured I would show you guys the blog I put up to promote the events, a full schedule is up as well. Check out some of the old photos and let me know what you guys think about the blog. I'll also throw that in the events section so It hangs around and everyone can check back on the event dates.

Outbrake Motorsports

Still got 4 ft. of snow in the yard, roads are messy, salty and full of holes. Maybe in a month.

914Driver wrote: Still got 4 ft. of snow in the yard, roads are messy, salty and full of holes. Maybe in a month.

Went out yesterday morning to let the car warm up before going out for a drive. I was wearing jeans and a flannel... and sweating. Today temps are supposed to drop dramatically. Gotta love Ohio weather lol.

Yup,

Still have to mount the race tires on the new set of rims and convert the rear drums to disc brakes before the season gets going!

I'm almost there. I'm ready to drive, the car isn't.

I had planned to invest some money in my 99 subie RS, in the area of a turbo engine swap. Unfortunately, I rolled the car at the last event, effectively destroying the shell. So instead of an engine swap, I'm doing a chassis swap. I'm pulling the wrecked car out of it's wintry tomb in a day or so to head to my friends shop to commence swapping drivetrain to the new chassis. Hoping the weather cooperates.

I'm ready, car(s) isn't/aren't.

It's starting to look like i'll have two weekends to work before first event. Car will roll in as a 300k mile worn out POS, and roll out with brand new well.... EVERYTHING even down to the nuts/bolts that hold on suspension, with a new heart.

Yikes. I see lots of red bull and 20 hour wrench sessions in my future.

sachilles wrote: I'm almost there. I'm ready to drive, the car isn't. I had planned to invest some money in my 99 subie RS, in the area of a turbo engine swap. Unfortunately, I rolled the car at the last event, effectively destroying the shell. So instead of an engine swap, I'm doing a chassis swap. I'm pulling the wrecked car out of it's wintry tomb in a day or so to head to my friends shop to commence swapping drivetrain to the new chassis. Hoping the weather cooperates.

I remember reading all about that. Thank god your ok. Rolling a car sounds awful. Hopefully you'll have gotten all bad luck out of the way with the subie and will have a bad ass year.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I'm ready, car(s) isn't/aren't. It's starting to look like i'll have two weekends to work before first event. Car will roll in as a 300k mile worn out POS, and roll out with brand new well.... EVERYTHING even down to the nuts/bolts that hold on suspension, with a new heart. Yikes. I see lots of red bull and 20 hour wrench sessions in my future.

I wish I could go that in depth with a build... Being on a student budget is depressing. Like they say, ain't no rest for the wicked. It's awesome you'll have a new feeling car once your done. 300K miles takes a lot out of a car. lol

Driving season?

We weren't supposed to be driving already?

I am ready but the car is not (yet), ordered the tire today and will have the rear brakes fixed by the weekend if the parts show up on time. Other than that just some basic maintenance no ZoomZoom parts so I can run in stock four wheel drive class. (Rally-X)

Paul B

m4ff3w wrote: Driving season? We weren't supposed to be driving already?

lol clever... You know what I mean!

Donebrokeit wrote: I am ready but the car is not (yet), ordered the tire today and will have the rear brakes fixed by the weekend if the parts show up on time. Other than that just some basic maintenance no ZoomZoom parts so I can run in stock four wheel drive class. (Rally-X) Paul B

I always wanted to do rally-x. I just always feel like my car is way too stiffly sprung. Maybe I should buy a beater to get started... hmmm....

I don't believe in seasons.....I'm not seeing them, anyway

In reply to JoeyM:

Pfft... Florida... the only thing we have on you is we don't have to worry about hurricanes. But we do have the occasional tornado so even then it aint any better lol

In reply to cxhb:

Rolling wasn't that bad. They say it is a right of passage. There are those that have crashed and those that will crash. I was more disappointed in myself and that I had wreck a car that was an exceptionally good deal. I was safety conscious before and this hasn't exactly changed that attitude. I know of at least two people that have added components to their cage as a result of that wreck, and at least one who added a cage(cages are not required believe it or not). So in that respect, I'm glad it motivated folks in that regard. That was the last event of our season, so I'm anxious to get back in the saddle. It was a long off season to think about it, and it was only recently that I happened on a caged replacement shell in my budget. I'm anxious to see if this experience will change my driving style. My NA drivetrain is going in an 02 wrx shell. The upside is that it bumps me into a "slower" class. It should make me more competitive within the class. As the old car was mixed in with 2.0l wrx's and evo's. If I wish to stay in the slower class I won't be able to modify much....so my wallet likes that. I am very anxious to go back to the hill were I wrecked, but that isn't until October. I am most surprised by my wife as well as my mother in terms of how they reacted to the situation. Both have been very supportive. I expected them to be a little more cautious. However, they've both been very encouraging. I think that they saw how messed up the car was and that I was unharmed, and that was a bit more reassuring. I certainly learned a lot from the situation(hoping I don't have to learn more anytime soon).

cxhb, buy a rallycross beater. It's far easier to run a car you don't car much about. Allows you to give 110%.

In reply to sachilles:

That's great those around you are supportive after that rather than trying to keep you from what you love. And as sad as it is to say something good came out of the wreck, at least others are taking safety more seriously. With you being more competitive in the new class, think about how awesome its going to feel conquering that hill climb and winning your class... That would be an awesome ending to that chapter in your automotive life.

About the rally-x car, I should look for something stock that I can beat the crap out of. lol Your right about driving a car you don't give a crap about. Its like you automatically give it that little extra...

cxhb wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I'm ready, car(s) isn't/aren't. It's starting to look like i'll have two weekends to work before first event. Car will roll in as a 300k mile worn out POS, and roll out with brand new well.... EVERYTHING even down to the nuts/bolts that hold on suspension, with a new heart. Yikes. I see lots of red bull and 20 hour wrench sessions in my future.

I wish I could go that in depth with a build... Being on a student budget is depressing. Like they say, ain't no rest for the wicked. It's awesome you'll have a new feeling car once your done. 300K miles takes a lot out of a car. lol

It's.... very surprisingly affordable thus far.

I'm keeping a log of all the money sunk into this thing. I'm very confident that it'll stay under $5k including purchase price of car when all is said and done. It helps that consumables for this car are dirt cheap. I'm looking at $450 or less to replace the ENTIRE brake system, master cylinder to pads.

If someone stayed away from the "overkill" stuff, i'm sure you could recreate it for ~$3500. You don't really NEED tubular rodend control arms, but dammit, they're COOL!

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Haha exactly. Who doesnt want the awesome parts to go on "while your in there"?

cxhb, find a beater subaru(not auto). Only thing I'd do is add a lsd from the wrx/early RS. If you can find a 2.2 impreza, that would be about perfect. Any early impreza would be good though. They are so light an toss-able, they are a HOOT to drive in a rallyx.

In reply to sachilles:

And they look awesome... There was an impreza L 5 speed for sale close to me recently but they wanted like $4500 for it. I wish I had that cash laying around. lol

In reply to sachilles:

And they look awesome... There was an impreza L 5 speed for sale close to me recently but they wanted like $4500 for it. I wish I had that cash laying around. lol

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

cxhb wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I'm ready, car(s) isn't/aren't. It's starting to look like i'll have two weekends to work before first event. Car will roll in as a 300k mile worn out POS, and roll out with brand new well.... EVERYTHING even down to the nuts/bolts that hold on suspension, with a new heart. Yikes. I see lots of red bull and 20 hour wrench sessions in my future.

I wish I could go that in depth with a build... Being on a student budget is depressing. Like they say, ain't no rest for the wicked. It's awesome you'll have a new feeling car once your done. 300K miles takes a lot out of a car. lol

It's.... very surprisingly affordable thus far. I'm keeping a log of all the money sunk into this thing. I'm very confident that it'll stay under $5k including purchase price of car when all is said and done. It helps that consumables for this car are dirt cheap. I'm looking at $450 or less to replace the ENTIRE brake system, master cylinder to pads. If someone stayed away from the "overkill" stuff, i'm sure you could recreate it for ~$3500. You don't really NEED tubular rodend control arms, but dammit, they're COOL!

What car are you guys talking about?

I totally feel what the OP is saying. My wife and I went out to a nice brunch down in the Oregon Gorge a little ways, and looking at the map I noticed that we were going to pass by a road that the locals call "crown point." If you're a Portlandish area native you probably recognize the name. Anyways it was dry that day so the wifey told me I could go ahead and have a little fun. Running up and down that road a few times put me right back into the mood to wrench. I think my engine swap will start later this week

Having renovated enough on the new project house we bought in September that we could finally move in, and, having done so sell house #1 which took less than a week...

I pulled the trigger and committed to buy this:

I've got a 10 hour round trip to pick it up next weekend. I ordered a set of fresh Hoosier bias slicks from Radial Tire Co, my local heroes, on the way to work this morning and need to order a new Odyssey battery, brake fluid, oil and filters. I need to get my medical done and get my SCCA novice permit.

Once the car is in the garage I need to sort trestles or something to put under it, get it naked and nut-and-bolt the whole thing. I need to swap in the larger seat and get the ergos set up.

On 3/12-3/13 I'll shake it down at a SCCA PDC/TT at Summit Point and try to figure out how to drive it without breaking it or me. Then I've got 3/4 nights to go over it again before a double race school which begins on 3/17 in the evening, continuing through Sunday 20th.

So the season is about to be underway in a huge way. And I still need to get a couple small pieces of trim for the M3 and do a fluid change on it and have the front tires flipped. Then it's ready for NASA HPDEs.

Its been really nice hear in southern Virginia, would be perfect weather for the Stag if I didn't have to pull the engine and rebuild it again